And in a fifth hour shock trade that people weren’t expecting, Carmelo Anthony is headed to Oklahoma City to join Russell Westbrook, Paul George and the Thunder.
Speculation for most of the offseason has been that he was headed to the Houston Rockets, but the organization didn’t have much to offer. In the last week or so, the Portland Trail Blazers became a dark horse to join, with more assets to part with than any other team at this point.
Now, according to Woj, the Thunder will deal Enes Kanter, Doug McDermott and a 2nd round pick to the New York Knicks to end the era of ‘Melo in Madison Square Garden.
New York has agreed to a deal to send Carmelo Anthony to OKC for Enes Kanter, Doug McDermott and a draft pick, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 23, 2017
Sources: OKC will send New York a 2018 second-round pick via Chicago.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 23, 2017
Russell Westbrook and Paul George played an immense part in getting Anthony to waive no-trade for OKC, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 23, 2017
As a result, Okahoma City will add more salary tax to their bill, a total of $27.8M after adding $12.4M more with this deal. It’s safe to say they’re going all in next season and if this experiment doesn’t work out, it’s lights out for the team when free agency starts in 2018.
The Western Conference is officially stacked.
UPDATE: Watch the full ‘Melo press conference as he’s introduced to the OKC Thunder.
OS REWIND: A First Look at Carmelo Anthony Playing with James Harden & Chris Paul